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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25306699">Scheherazade</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skylark/pseuds/Skylark'>Skylark</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anxiety, Gen, Gender Issues, Gender or Sex Swap, Internalized Transphobia, Issue Fic, Own Voices, The Button(TM), Trans Character, we're just not going to talk about pronouns. don't look at them</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 12:40:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>990</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25306699</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skylark/pseuds/Skylark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Are you...sure about this?" Yachi said. "I don't think it's something we can undo."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Azumane Asahi &amp; Yachi Hitoka</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Scheherazade</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/dicie/gifts">dicie</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Are you...sure about this?" Yachi said. "I don't think it's something we can undo."</p><p>Asahi was not at all sure, really. What if it was too much, and he realized it had all been in his head after all?</p><p>(...What if it wasn't enough? It's not like they would swap entire bodies.)</p><p>They were sitting in the middle of the gym, two hours after everyone else had left. There was no way for either of them to visit the other person's bedroom without it being suggestive, and somehow doing this in someone's living room seemed so much worse. Besides, this was where most of their conversations had happened, anyway—after hours as they cleaned up together, hushed voices echoing in the empty room. Over time their voices had gotten louder, more sure of themselves.</p><p>That felt like ages ago now as they both stared at the dark blue bottle on the floor. They'd both read the instructions and warnings on the label twice, being the kind of people they were. It said it would take at least 12 hours to manifest, and also that the process would cause "discomfort." That alone was terrifying enough, without the additional strain of all the thoughts racing through his head. What if he realized he was wrong halfway through? What if he was wrong right now?</p><p>Why couldn't he just be like everyone else?</p><p>But he was like someone else, he thought. He glanced over at Yachi, her hands fisted in her skirt to hide their shaking. This change wasn't something one could do alone.</p><p>"Are <em>you</em> sure?" he asked. Yachi huffed out a laugh, a stress response more than anything.</p><p>"I a-asked you first," she stammered out.</p><p>"Yeah," Asahi said. "I know."</p><p>They sat there for a while, quiet. </p><p>"I'm sorry they're not bigger," Yachi burst out. "I know they're not very good—"</p><p>"No, Yachi, I—"</p><p>"But if you're sure you want them then," her voice was starting to wobble too now, her eyes growing shiny, "Then you can have them. I—I just can't imagine anyone wanting them."</p><p>Asahi scooted over to her on the floor, wrapping an arm around her smaller shoulders. "They're more than I ever imagined," he said. "And I mean, I can't imagine anyone wanting—" he gestured down, grimacing—"that, either."</p><p>"It just <em>looks</em> wrong," she said.</p><p>"Yeah."</p><p>"It doesn't <em>feel</em> right."</p><p>"Yeah."</p><p>She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Are we crazy?" Yachi whispered.</p><p>Asahi hummed. "They said sometimes people feel less anxious after doing this," he said. "Happier. Maybe we'll get less crazy."</p><p>"It's hard to imagine feeling less anxious," she muttered, her fingers twisting together in her lap.</p><p>"Yeah. I don't know if I—you're right. It might be a mistake." They'd talked about it before, all the ways it could be wrong. What if it worked too well, what if it didn't work at all, what if people noticed, what if people didn't. "But I think I want to try anyway. I'm tired of feeling like this all the time."</p><p>"Me too," she mumbled.</p><p>"Besides," Asahi said, "you're not doing it alone. I'm here with you, okay? We're in this together." She looked up at him, and he gave her a lopsided smile.</p><p>"You're right," she said after a long moment. She licked her lips and then straightened, her hands falling into her normal self-soothing pattern: checking the clips in her hair, straightening her collar, smoothing her skirt. She'd worn her favorite clips today, Asahi realized. He'd kind of done the same, wearing a necklace he'd bought ages ago without really knowing why. He imagined it sitting in the small valley between his breasts and felt a rush of emotion that convinced him, more than anything, that—</p><p>"I'm sure," he said. Yachi looked at him, her hands falling to her sides. </p><p>"Me too," she replied.</p><p>Asahi reached out and dragged the bottle closer to them. He unscrewed the cap with his eyes screwed shut, expecting it to smell horrible, but it didn't. Sloshing around in the bottle it seemed a little viscous, but otherwise looked as unremarkable as water.</p><p>"Ladies first," Yachi said with a nervous laugh.</p><p>Asahi puffed a laugh through his nose, but he took a deep breath and drank. He passed the bottle to Yachi, and watched as she tipped her head back and took several swallows. They finished the bottle like that, passing it back and forth.</p><p>"You have everything you need, right?" Yachi said. Asahi knew they both knew the answer—they'd gone shopping for undergarments together a month before—but it helped both of them, to go down the mental checklist one more time.</p><p>"I've got enough to start with," Asahi said. "We can go buy more stuff together if we need to, right?"</p><p>"Yeah, of course."</p><p>They sat there together on the polished wood floor, the edges of their left and right shoes tapping together.</p><p>"Do you...feel any different?"</p><p>"No, not really?" Asahi said, rubbing at an earlobe. "It's hard to tell what's my brain making stuff up, and what's really true. The bottle said nothing would happen immediately anyway."</p><p>"You don't feel nauseous, or like you're having an allergic reaction—"</p><p>"I don't feel any more nauseous than usual," Asahi said with a small smile. "You?"</p><p>"No," Yachi said. "I feel the same as I did before."</p><p>"Let's go home?" Asahi said. "You can call me if anything changes."</p><p>"Yeah. We should probably go. My mom is gonna start wondering where I am."</p><p>They stood up, unable to resist sneaking glances at each other. But it was true, nothing had really changed. Would Asahi's chest feel heavier? Would it feel different when Yachi sat and moved? Now that they'd done it, there was a strange excitement, a bubbling euphoria.</p><p>"I'm glad we did this," Asahi said. </p><p>Yachi smiled—terrified still, but jittery with more than just nerves as they threaded their fingers together. "Me too."</p>
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